Sack of Antwerp

The sack of Antwerp during the Eighty Years' War is known as the Spanish Fury.

On 4 November 1576, Spanish tercios began the sack of Antwerp, leading to three days of horror among the population of the city, which was the cultural, economic and financial center of the Netherlands. The principal cause of the sack was the delay in payment due the soldiers by Philip II. Spain had recently declared bankruptcy, and 400,000 florins intended as payment to the troops were seized by the government of Elizabeth I when ships containing the florins sought shelter from a storm in English ports.

The Spanish soldiers, angry at fighting without rest or pay against the Dutch rebels, decided to pay themselves by looting Antwerp. Some 8,000 lives and a great deal of property were lost.cite book
last = Kamen
first = Henry
year = 2005
title = Spain, 1469–1714: a society of conflict
edition = 3rd
publisher = Pearson Education
url = http://www.pearsoned.co.uk
location = Harlow, United Kingdom
id = ISBN 0-582-78464-6] The cruelty and destruction of these three days of rage became known as the Spanish Fury.

This shocking event stiffened many in the Netherlands, even many Catholics, against the Spanish Habsburg monarchy; and further tarnished Philip II's declining reputation. Furthermore, it brought about the ruin of the Antwerp Cloth Market. English traders not wishing to risk visiting a town that now resembled a war zone sought out new commercial links. By 1582, all English trade to Antwerp had ceased. The large Jewish population was particularly hard hit and Antwerp subsequently lost its status as one of the richest, most influential cities in Europe; never to recapture its former glory.

This event also added to Spain's Black Legend.

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